The management of Vodafone Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Vodafone plc UK, handed over on Wednesday its Satellite Earth Station at Kuntunse, about 20 km west of the capital, to the government of Ghana for use by the new Space Science and Technology Center.

This was contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Minister for Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) Sherry Ayittey and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Ghana Kyle Whitehill at the official opening of the Center.

The MOU indicated that the redundant Vodafone earth satellite station would be converted into a telescope for research and development in the field of astronomy.

"The Small Satellite Development Program (SSDP) where the center is collaborating with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd to develop small satellites in the country is also part of the new program," the minister said.

On the new center, Ayittey said the vision was to uncover and exploit the capabilities of space science and technology for national socio-economic and technological development through education and cutting edge research.

She added that the center would coordinate the implementation of national space science and technology programs in the four main focal areas of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems ( GIS), Communication, Meteorology as well as Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The minister was also hopeful that the technology would be used to monitor crops in continental climates through assimilation of satellite information.

"The journey to space science and technology development is long and there is no short cut to arrive at the destination," Ayittey warned, adding,"We need to invest in infrastructure and human capacity development to meet the goals and objectives we have set for ourselves."

Ghana officially opened its Space Science and Technology Center (SSTC) on Wednesday to harness the potentials of science and technology for accelerated socio-economic development.